Église St. Jacques
Posted: October 8, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal 8 CommentsThe Judith-Jasmin pavilion of Université de Québec à Montréal is built around the Église St. Jacques. Marc Holmes and I had originally planned to sketch inside the building today because there’s an interesting view of rue Ste. Catherine from the 7th floor windows, but of course the university was closed because of the Thanksgiving holiday so we ended up drawing from across the street.
Marc did some beautiful ink drawings and this is another try for me with my new Moleskine sketchbook which, although I have not yet and may never master watercolour in this book, is wonderful for pen drawing. I love the smoothness of the paper, the creamy colour, and most of all the fact that because of the stitched binding, it lays flat in the scanner. I will just have to leave my experiments with watercolour for another day.
When it cleared
Posted: October 6, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, suburban, watercolour 26 CommentsI went out today with the intention of trying two new purchases. One was a Raphael #8 watercolour brush (I’ll admit I have a weakness for these sable brushes!) and the other was a different format Moleskine sketchbook.
The brush, as expected, was wonderful. I already have a #14 from the same series but sometimes that is a little too big so I spotted a sale at one of my online suppliers, I jumped on it. The added incentive was that the brush came with free #2 and #0 brushes.
I’ve painted in many Moleskine books but they’ve always been watercolour paper. The new one I am trying is the Moleskine Sketchbook and I bought it because it is a vertical format instead of horizontal like the ones I am used to painting in. It’s listed in the online catalogue as “perfect for pencil, charcoal, fountain pen, tempera, acrylic, etc.” so I assumed it would be good for watercolour too, or at least light washes. Wrong! It is as if the paper has some type of resist on it and the wash just beaded and sat on top of the paper. My sketch in that book was of the same scene as this but it was very unsuccessful. I’ll have to do some more research into this to find out if other people have the same problem as me.
Solving problems
Posted: October 3, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, watercolour 4 CommentsWhile I observed and sketched today, these two guys solved all of the world’s problems. I kept expecting them to finish their cigarettes and walk away but they stayed on these benches for the whole time I was there (45 min approx.). Occasionally one of them would get up, make a point about some important issue — hands flying, face reddening — and then sit back down with a sigh. From time to time a third man would join them for a few moments and then be off. When I turned away for a few seconds to pack up my paints they disappeared. Solutions had been found.
Tabletop at Mountain View
Posted: September 29, 2012 Filed under: ink 10 CommentsI drew this a few weeks ago in my Laloran sketch book. I have lots of sketch books piled up on my desk but none have paper as beautiful as this.
A tough bunch
Posted: September 23, 2012 Filed under: market, Montreal, watercolour 14 CommentsMontreal Urban Sketchers are tough — tough as nails. We had our first Sunday Sketching outing today at the Jean Talon Market and we FROZE. There was a cold wind blowing through the alleyways of the market — a wind that went right through sweaters, fleeces, vests and jackets. But our hardy group of nine sketched all morning and some even into the afternoon. The optimists among us were sure the day would warm up, the sensible ones found spots in the sun, and to prove how tough we Canadians really are we all ate our lunch outside on a picnic table instead of taking shelter in a warm café. The day never really did warm up but we were happy to be sketching together and in the end we all admitted that we were looking forward to next month’s INDOOR sketching location.
Super simple
Posted: September 21, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, suburban, watercolour 9 CommentsI haven’t done anything in my tiny Moleskine in a long time. It was my constant companion when I started sketching almost a year ago. These days I have been working on bigger sheets, trying out new paper, working in different ways, so this was like a reunion with an old friend.
Open the book. Put down a few lines. Add a bit of colour. Done.
Six dollar squash
Posted: September 20, 2012 Filed under: ink, market, Montreal, watercolour 7 CommentsIt’s getting to be squash time at the market. This probably should have been titled Six Dollar Pumpkin but it just didn’t have the same ring to it.
Setting up
Posted: September 18, 2012 Filed under: ink, Montreal, watercolour 5 CommentsThe travelling carnival/circus — the kind that sets up in the parking lot of your local mall — has always fascinated me. Flatbed trucks move the tilt-a-whirls, the bumper cars and the carousels from town to town all summer long (at least in my part of the world). But the interesting detail of this subculture — this nomadic group — is not how they set up their amusements and their food carts. For me it’s the residential trailer villages that are behind the scenes at these events. Because if you wander around a bit you will see pots of flowers, colourful awnings, and folding chairs and tables that make this place — even for a short amount of time — home.
An honour
Posted: September 12, 2012 Filed under: watercolour 48 CommentsToday is a very special day for me because I have been invited to be a correspondent on the Urban Sketchers blog. This means that I will be one of 100 sketchers from around the world who post their work (and show their part of the world) on the site. I met and sketched with many of the people who post on the blog this past summer in Santo Domingo at the Urban Sketchers Symposium and I am thrilled and honoured to be posting alongside them. Have a look at the work these people do. You may be astounded at the variety and quality of both the writing and the art. Naturally, I won’t be posting there every day as I do on my own blog but posts that are most relevant to the urban theme will go up there simultaneously.
Not long after I started posting on my own site I had a conversation with Marc Taro Holmes about adding words to my “sketches only” posts. In fact it was on the first day we sketched together at the Redpath Museum. He explained that the storytelling behind the sketches was as important as the sketches themselves and he encouraged me to write. I thank him often for this encouragement.
I have been saving this sketch because I wanted to post it at the same time as my introduction on the Urban Sketchers blog. I painted it at the Byward Market in Ottawa.
To see my intro on Urban Sketchers, click here.
40 Max
Posted: September 11, 2012 Filed under: Montreal, watercolour 10 CommentsTwo days ago my sketching friend Helmut Langeder commented on the blog that once a gallery owner had asked him to remove telephone poles from one of his paintings. Luckily he paints mostly in oil and the poles were easy to take out, although it seems he did it reluctantly. That story reminded me of how much I love painting these utility poles and how few I had done this summer. I painted on the same 240 lb paper as yesterday’s experiment but I think I will have to get rid of this stock that I have had around for too long. There are some weird spots in paper that absorb too much paint, but luckily it’s in the foreground foliage area and not that noticeable.
